Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Mominul is gone. Out for 49 off the bowling of Josh Hazlewood, caught behind by Alex Carey.
Bangladesh 2-138, trailing Australia by 60 runs. Tanzid 59 not out, Shanto comes to the crease.
The underrated Tigers are giving Australia a batting lesson in this Darwin Test.
Tanzid has just brought up his maiden Test half century in his second Test match. It has been a patient knock, scoring 50 off 102 balls.
That’s drinks on day two. Bangladesh are 1-129 off 69 overs, trailing Australia by 69 runs.
Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting believes D-Day is coming in this Darwin Test for a number of underperforming batters.
Apart from Steve Smith’s 71 – and he was lucky not to be given out caught behind on seven – the Australian top order failed in a total of 198.
“I’m not sure if they are scared of making change or deep down they know that there might not be anything that is waiting in shield cricket underneath,” Channel 7 commentator Ponting told SEN this morning.
“But I just think there’s been a couple of years now, there’s been 12 months now where they’ve had the opportunity to make change.
Mitch Starc sends an appeal up to the third umpire for a caught-behind chance, and the review is denied.
He thought he had Tanzid caught down leg side, but replays show the ball flicked the batter’s pad.
Pat Cummins is having a rest and is bringing Beau Webster back into the attack.
Bangladesh 1-120 off 34 overs. Tanzid 48 (100), Mominul 43 (77). The Tigers trail by 78 runs, nine wickets in hand.
That’s not the opening half hour the Australians were looking for. They need wickets. They don’t have any.
Bangladesh resumed this morning on 1-97 and have moved steadily along to 1-115 after 30 minutes of play on day two of this Darwin Test. Mominul (42 not out) and Tanzid (44 not out) continue to defy the odds.
Apart from one over from Beau Webster, Pat Cummins and Mitch Starc have shared the ball. They have flirted with an outside edge, but can’t find the breakthrough.
Bangladesh trail by 83 runs with nine wickets in hand.
Mitchell Starc has admitted Australia bowled too short last night to a Bangladesh batting line-up of shorter players than England had last summer.
“They’re obviously a short batting unit, so we’ve probably got to get that ball a fraction fuller,” Starc told Seven before play.
“They were pretty comfortable just leaving anything wide of the stumps, pretty compact when it was there to respect, and then when we over-pitched, they probably cashed in a little bit on those over-pitched balls.
“I think there’s a lot of good balls there that perhaps, if we compare it to last year, there’s a lot of plays and edges.
They’re a short batting unit, these guys, and so they’re pretty comfortable with leaving on length, and it was probably a little bit less movement as the day went on.”
Strange move from the Aussie skipper. He tosses the ball to Beau Webster for the first over of the morning, and the all-rounder extracts plenty of sideways movement and almost finds the edge twice. You’d think he has earned a follow-up over. Nope. Cummins brings Mitch Starc into the attack.
No knock on Starc, obviously. He’s a gun. But why not let the big left-armer bowl the first over?
It makes about as much sense as winning the toss in this Test and electing to bat on a tricky wicket.
Bangladesh 1-105 off 27 overs. Tanzid 35 (76), Mominul 41 (58).
The tourists have ticked over 100 in their first innings for the loss of just one wicket. They are well on top in this Darwin Test match to date, having rolled Australia for 198.
The Australians have opened this morning with Beau Wesbter and Pat Cummins in search of an early wicket.
Bangladesh 1-103 off 26 overs. Tanzid 34 (71), Mominul 40 (57).
Australia have started the morning by bowling Beau Webster.
The all-rounder was the only bowler not used on day one of this Darwin Test against Bangladesh.
His first ball was a “loosener”. His third and fourth balls were peaches, almost finding outside edges.
This looks to be a good move from skipper Pat Cummins as he slants the ball across left-hander Tanzid with plenty of movement.
Not a cloud in the sky in Darwin this morning, unlike yesterday when Bangladesh’s bowlers were handed first use of a pitch that seamed before starting to flatten out.
Steve Smith fronted the media after a poor first day from the hosts and said the batsmen needed to refocus on making smart decisions in difficult conditions.
“It’s not easy,” said Smith. “We’ve got to keep trying to find ways to put pressure back on the bowlers, get them off their lengths when they’re bowling well like they are and just apply some pressure.
“Or at other times go the other way and maybe come into our shells a bit. Just read the game and play what’s in front of us. That’s really important for this group.”
Smith had hoped some morning dew might make the first hour difficult for Bangladesh. Australia certainly need early breakthroughs with only 102 runs in credit and nine more wickets to take.
